In the construction of buildings, structural damage often provides energy dissipation over the course of a seismic event. Using structural damage to dissipate energy allows structures to be economically constructed. Dampers can be used to provide energy dissipation to structures, allowing structures to survive seismic events with little to no structural damage. The addition of viscous damping to wood framed structures can significantly increase seismic resistance and reduce building lateral displacements, thereby reducing damage to the structure. Although damping can be an effective method to reduce damage to a structure, viscous dampers have seen relatively little use in certain types of structures. Stiff low-rise structures, such as light-framed wood residential structures, have not been good candidates for damping because the effectiveness of the dampers is reduced due to the low displacement input into the dampers. At the point sufficient displacement and velocity is input into the damper, the structural damage due to that displacement is already significant. In addition, space for placement of dampers in light-framed wood residential structures is limited, as there is a growing demand for numerous windows and open floor plans. Placement of dampers in a horizontal position provides good displacement and energy dissipation, but takes up significant space. To use narrower frames, dampers are often positioned diagonally in a damper frame. The diagonal orientation of dampers in the frames results in a reduction of displacement to the dampers when compared to the displacement of the building because the damper is not aligned with the horizontal shifting associated with the seismic activity, thereby making the dampers less effective and less economical. In addition to reducing the displacement, the diagonal configuration amplifies the force in the damper, resulting in a need for a larger more costly damper.